Method for Electrochemical Detection of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in Plasma

M. Bockaj, Bockaj M, B Fung, Fung B, Barnabas Fung, M Tsoulis, Michael Tsoulis, Lauren Foster, Leyla Soleymani
Analytical chemistry · 2018 · vol. 90(14) , pp. 8561–8566 · doi:10.1021/acs.analchem.8b01642 · PMID:29932639 · W2809276704
Other OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 4 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study developed a point-of-care electrochemical biosensor (EndoChip) using a gold film electrode for rapid BDNF detection in plasma, showing strong correlation with ELISA results for potential endometriosis diagnosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Currently, a blood test for the diagnosis of endometriosis, a common estrogen-dependent gynecological disease, does not exist. Recent studies suggest that circulating concentrations of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have potential for the diagnosis of endometriosis. However, at present, BDNF can only be measured by ELISA, which requires a clinic visit, a routine blood sample, and laboratory testing. Therefore, we developed a point-of-care device (EndoChip) for use with small blood volumes that can be collected through a finger prick. Specifically, the presented device is a polymer-based chip with a nanoporous, wrinkled gold film acting as the electrode/sensing layer, allowing for the electrochemical detection of BDNF in plasma. Increasing concentrations of BDNF (0.1-2.0 ng/mL) induced significant differences in redox current. The biosensor produces a signal readout in a matter of seconds, and is ideal for realizing multiplexing. Blood samples were collected from women ( n = 20) with chronic pelvic pain undergoing a diagnostic laparoscopy. Plasma BDNF concentrations measured by commercial ELISA were positively correlated ( r2 = 0.8033; p < 0.001) with results from the EndoChip. Our results demonstrate a quick and reliable method for point-of-care quantification of circulating concentrations of BDNF and a promising diagnostic tool for endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Biosensing Techniques Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Endometriosis Point-of-Care Systems Point-of-Care Systems Adolescent Adolescent Adult Adult Biosensing Techniques Biosensing Techniques Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Electrochemical Techniques Electrochemical Techniques Electrochemical Techniques Electrodes Electrodes Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (26)

Cited by (4)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-16T06:09:50.462052+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:22:24.294217+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK